11/10/2009

AEROSMITH guitarist Joe Perry announced via his Twitter page yesterday that despite Steven Tyler's apparent departure, "AEROSMITH is definitely NOT breaking up." Perry also reassured fans that the remaining four members of AEROSMITH would seek out a new singer while Tyler did "his own thing."

"AEROSMITH is positively looking for a new singer to work with. You just can't take 40 years of experience and throw it in the bin!" Perry wrote. "Band is playing hotter than ever and our songs need to be played live! Don't despair; AEROSMITH not splitting up. Promise that's the last you'll hear from me on the subject till we gear up again."

Perry told the Las Vegas Sun on Friday (November 6) that Tyler has quit the band he co-founded nearly 40 years ago, following a recent concert in Abu Dhabi. Perry revealed to the newspaper, "Steven quit as far as I can tell. I don't know any more than you do about it. I got off the plane two nights ago. I saw online that Steven said that he was going to leave the band. I don't know for how long, indefinitely or whatever. Other than that, I don't know."

Tyler told Classic Rock magazine following the Middle East concert that he intended to work on "Brand Tyler" instead of a new AEROSMITH record for the foreseeable future, saying, "I don't know what I'm doing yet, but it's definitely going to be something Steven Tyler: working on the brand of myself — Brand Tyler."

Perry told the Sun that Tyler "has had no contact" with him or the other band members. Classic Rock reported that Tyler's dressing room at the Abu Dhabi gig was distant from the others, and that he did not interact with the rest of the group until they got onstage.

Perry said that he would like AEROSMITH to continue, but admitted that he's not entirely sure how to proceed. He explained, "As far as replacing Steve, it's not just about that, it's also four guys that play extremely well together, and I'm not going to see that go to waste. I really don't know what path it's going to take at this point, but we'll probably find somebody else that will sing in those spots where we need a singer and then we'll be able to . . . move the vibe up a notch."

Things have been tense in the AEROSMITH camp since early August, when a fall from a stage in South Dakota broke Tyler's shoulder and ended the band's summer tour. In the months since, internal strife has come to the surface, forcing AEROSMITH to consider two options: going on hiatus or getting a new vocalist.

Perry told the Sun that he believed Tyler had been planning to leave for a while, saying, "Obviously he hasn't been giving 100 percent to this thing for a long time . . . To disregard his brothers to the point where we have to find out about it on the Internet — it's like, 'See you later, Bud.' I still care for him as a person, or at least the person I used to know. But things change."